Manufacture of shoes



BAQQUSfi 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. G. BAILEY MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Jan. 20, 1970 Filed March 11, 1968 Jan. 20, 1970 F. G. BAILEY 3,4Q0fi86 MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Filed March 11, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 20, 1970 F. G. BAILEY 3,490,086

MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Filed March 11, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 F44 9 fl/AEY United States Patent 3,490,086 MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Frank Gordon Bailey, Kettering, England, assignor to Ralphs Unified Limited, Leicester, England Filed Mar. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 712,031 Int. Cl. A43d 3/00, 23/00 US. Cl. 12l24 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is for improvements in or relating to the manufacture of shoes, the word shoe being used herein in a broad sense wherever the context so permits to include all forms of outer footwear. The invention has for an object to provide an improved last or form by means of which shoes may be manufactured conveniently and economically.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a shoe last or form (hereinafter referred to for convenience as a last) having a heel part and also a forepart sole portion in fixed relation to said heel part and having a forepart top portion serving in One position to complete the shape of the forepart of the last, one of the portions constituted firstly by said forepart top portion and secondly by the remainder of the last being movable fore and aft of the last in relation to the other of such portions. The last is thus capable of being contracted so that the forepart top portion is positioned backwardly from the toe end of the sole part, and of being reconstituted with the forepart top portion extending up to said toe end. The last may have a heel part which is joined to a plate like sole portion extending along the forepart to the toe tip. The heel part of the last may have a transverse front face running from a crown face at a position forwardly of the heel seat position.

A last of the form indicated has certain advantages which will hereinafter appear in that it assists the performance of a shaping operation on a shoe upper. The forepart top portion may be formed by a block of appropriate shape having a rear face and being shorter than the distance between the front of the heel part and the toe extremity, so that said top portion can slide endwise of the last backwardly away from the toe extremity of the sole part.

In a convenient form of costruction the last has its forepart sole portion detachably fixed in relation to the forward portion of the heel part (or a combined heel and waist part) .in such manner as to provide surfaces continuing from the bottom and sides thereof. Such detachable mounting enables differently shaped forepart sole portions to suit different styles or sizes of shoe to be used in connection with the same heel part, or heel and waist part, of the last. Different forepart top portions of the last may also be used each to match a corresponding forepart sole portion.

A last according to the invention may have interengaging web-like members fixed respectively to the heel (or heel and waist) part and the forepart top portion substantially along the longitudinal centre line of the last, to provide guidance for the relative fore and aft movement between said forepart top portion and the remainder of the last. The forepart top portion may be operated by its web like member to move it fore and aft of the remainder of the last when required so to move.

A last as aforementioned may have a heel and waist part which terminates in a front face lying at an obtuse angle to the general line of the forepart sole portion as viewed from one side of the last, and having the forepart top portion formed with a correspondingly slanted rear face which in the fully contracted setting lies against the slanted front face of the heel and waist portion.

The invention further provides apparatus for use in manufacturing shoes comprising a last as referred to above, means for mounting the heel part and forepart top portion of the last one on a fixed support and the other on a movable support, and means for causing relative movement between the parts of the last when mounted on said supports so as to expand the toeward end of the last to apply stress to a lasted shoe upper mounted on the last. Stop means may be provided to limit the relative move ment between the parts of the last which may be effected by means of a fluid pressure operated device.

The provisions of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of one form of the improved last;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the last as seen in the direction of arrow A in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the last on a mounting;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of another form of the improved last;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the several parts of the last shown in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 shows in perspective web like supports for the parts of the last of FIGURE 4.

The improved last or form as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 has a main body 10 formed with a shaped heel end part 11 which is in fixed relation to a plate-like forepart sole portion 12 being joined thereto by being formed integrally therewith. The main body 10 has a crown face 13 which is undermost in FIG. 1 and in which are formed on the longitudinal centre line at suitable spaced positions thimble holes 14 whereby the main body 10 can be suported on pegs as indicated at 15 in FIG. 3. The main body '10 of the last has a vertical transverse front face 16 running from the crown face 13 at a position forwardly of the heel seat position and the upper part of the forepart sole portion 12 (which is underneath in FIGS. 1 and 3) is finished as a smooth face 17. The top portion of the forepart of the last is formed by a block 18 of appropriate shape to complete the toe end shape of the last and having smooth face to engage the face 17, a vertical rear face 19 and a short crown face 20. The block 18 is shorter than the distance between the front face 16 of the body part 10 and the toe extremity indicated at 21 so that the top portion 18 can slide endwise of the last away from the toe extremity 21 to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 1. The top part -18 when moved forwardly can occupy the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1, in which it completes the shaping of the toe end part. The top part 18 in its crown face 20 is formed with thimble holes 22 to receive pegs 23, FIG. 3, so that by relative adjustment between the pegs 15 and the pegs 23 the position of the top part 18 in relation to the body can be adjusted.

In FIG. 3 is shown apparatus in which the last 10, 18 is adapted to be mounted. This comprises a fixed bed plate 24 or bar from which the pegs upstand, and a slidable support in the form of a block 25 carrying the upstanding pegs 23 which are spaced apart widthwise of the longitudinal centre line of the last. The slidable block 25 is mounted to slide longitudinally of the last mounting in any convenient way, for example by straddling a portion of the plate or bar 24 or by engaging through a slot therein, and it is arranged to be operated by a pneumatically operated cylinder 26 attached at 27 to the underside of the plate or bar 24 and having a piston rod 28 coupled at 29 to the slidable block 25. Mounted forwardly of the block in a bracket 30 depending from the underside of the plate or bar 24 there is an adjustable stop screw 31 which can be set to limit the forward extent of movement of the block 25 to suit particular requirements of last shapes. Thus by power operated means constituted by pneumatic cylinder 26 the last 10, 18, can be expanded to cause relative movement between its body 10 and top potrion 18 during the procedure of constructing a shoe on the last.

It may be advantageous to have the mountings for the pegs 15 and 23 and the pages themselves formed of heat conducting material, for example metal, and to provide heater units, preferably energised electrically on or in the mountings for the pegs 15 and 23 so that when the heaters are active heat will be applied through the pegs and adjacent surfaces to the different parts of the last 10, 18. In this connection it may be advantageous to have the last also made of heat conducting material so that the heat will be conducted through it to the shoe upper, thereby assisting in the shaping of a shoe upper to the form of the last.

In the modified construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 3 the last comprises a heel part 110 arranged to be mounted in fixed position and an integrally formed waist part 110a. Detachably mounted in fixed relation to the heel part 110 is a shaped relatively flat plate 111 forming a forepart sole portion. The forward face of the heel part :110 is indicated at 112 and it will be seen that this extends at an obtruse angle to the general plane of the forepart sole portion 111. To complete the sape of the forepart of the last there is a movable forepart top portion 113 mounted to slide fore and aft relatively to the heel portion.

Differently shaped plates 111 may be provided for substitution in connection with the same heel part 110 to suit shoes having differently styled foreparts, and different forepart top portions 113 respectively matching the plates 111 may be used in association therewith.

The heel part 110 is shown as mounted in fixed position on a web like support 114 which fits in a central slot 115 in the heel part 110 and extends upwardly to provide a narrow shelf 114a under the heelward end of the forepart sole portion 111 which rests on such shelf and fits into a trans-verse recess or rebate 116 formed for it in the front end of the heel part 110. The heel part 110 is fixed to the web like support 114 by means of a screw 1'17 sunk into a recess in the heel part 110. A further screw 118 detachably secures the forepart sole portion 111 to the shelf 114a at the top of the web like support 114.

The forepart top portion 113 is also slotted centrally at 119 to receive a suitably shaped upper end of a divided web like holder 120 for the forepart top portion 113 which is detachably screwed to the upper end of the holder 120. The latter is mounted in any convenient manner at its lower end on a movabe support whereby fore and aft movement can be imparted to it to expand and contract the las for example b means of a flu p s u p rated 4 device such as the pneumatic piston and cylinder device 26 of FIGURE 3.

As shown in FIG. 6 the holder 120 is divided by being formed of two parallel plates 120a and 1201) of appropriate shape joined by a forward cross part 121 and by being attached, e.g., welded, to a slotted bottom plate 122. Side lugs 123 are provided to engage in recesses 124 in the forepart top portion 113 in which they are fixed by screws to mount the forepart top portion 113 on the holder 120. The divided holder 120 and its slotted bottom plate 122 embrace a reduced web portion 125 on the post 114 below the shelf 114a and by sliding engagement between the portion 125 and the holder 120 the forepart top portion 113 is maintained centralised during its fore and aft movements. The support 114 has a horizontal ledge 126 to engage with a corresponding shelf part a in the recess 115 and withstand downward forces on the heel part of the last when in use.

For movement of the forepart top portion 113 its holder may have its bottom plate 122 mounted on a carrier (not shown) which is moved fore and aft when required by power means in any convenient manner.

In practice a range of differently shaped heel parts 11 or 110 may be provided to suit different heel heights and/ or different styles affecting the heel end and/ or waist part shape.

What 1 claim is:

1. An expansible and contractible shoe last having a heel shaped part and also a plate like forepart sole portion in fixed relation to said heel shaped part and projecting forwardly therefrom to the forward extremity of the last when fully expanded and having a forepart top portion shaped to the form of a shoe upper forepart and serving in the expanded position to complete the shape of the forepart of the last, one of the portions constituted firstly by said forepart top portion and secondly by the remainder of the last being movable fore and aft of the last in relation to the other of such portions.

2. A last according to claim 1 wherein the heel part has a transverse front face running from a crown face at a position forwardly of the heel seat position.

3. A last according to claim 1 wherein the forepart top portion is formed by a block of appropriate shape having a rear face and an under face, the latter being shorter than the distance between the front of the heel shaped part and the toe extremity of the forepart sole portion, so that said top portion can slide endwise of the last backwardly away from the toe extremity of the sole part to contract the last.

4. A last according to claim 1 wherein the forepart sole portion is detachably fixed in relation to the heel part in such manner as to provide surfaces continuing from the bottom and sides thereof.

5. A last according to claim 1 having inter-engaging web-like members fixed respectively to the heel part and the forepart top portion substantially along the longitudinal centre line of the last, to provide guidance for the relative fore and aft movement between said forepart top portion and the remainder of the last.

6. A last according to claim 1 having a heel and waist part which terminates in a front face lying at an obtuse angle to the general line of the forepart sole portion as viewed from one side of the last, and having the forepart top portion formed with a correspondingly slanted rear face which in the fully contracted Setting lies against the slanted front face of the heel and waist portion.

7. Apparatus for use in manufacturing shoes comprising an expansible last as claimed in claim 1, fixed and movable supports, means for mounting the heel part and forepart top portion of the last one on the fixed support and the other on the movable support, and means for causing relative sliding movement between the parts of the last endwise thereof when mounted on said supports so as to expand the toeWard end of the last to apply stress to a lasted shoe upper mounted on the last. i

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein stop means is provided to limit the relative movement between the parts of the last.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 comprising a fluid pressure operated device, for causing relative movement between the parts of the last.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 4/1956 Switzerland.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

